watchmen

Gobbledygeek episode 278, “Grendel: Part 3 – Devil’s Legacy, Part 2,” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

Times are tough in Matt Wagner’s nightmarish neon near-future New York as Paul and Arlo continue their year-long Four-Color Flashback trip through Grendel. This time, the boys finish out “Devil’s Legacy” with chapters 8-12 of Grendel Omnibus: Vol. 2 (that’s pp. 247-370, if you need to know). What exactly is the devil’s legacy? How do Hunter Rose’s actions reverberate through the generations, as his “step-granddaughter” Christine Spar once more puts on the mask and picks up the fork? Paul and Arlo search for an answer while drawing a through-line between Grendel and fellow class of ’86-ers Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns, poring over the myriad bizarre details of the Pander Brothers’ artwork, and lauding the achievements of one McGruff the Crime Dog. Plus, a brief, spoiler-free discussion of the pilot episode of AMC’s Preacher adaptation.

Next: strap on your aprons and grab your spatulas! The Deli Counter of Justice authors man their own deli counters, each cooking two burgers apiece from The Bob’s Burgers Burger Book.

We’ve already listed our favorite TV shows and movies of last year, and we’ve got a couple more lists just before the new season begins. Here are our favorite comic books of 2012; check back tomorrow for our favorite albums (though, considering our extensively detailed history of not knowing how to talk about music, with YouTube clips instead of commentary).

PAUL: 10. THOR: GOD OF THUNDER (Marvel)

There was a period of time when Thor was my favorite character in comics. The golden Walt Simonson era was for me the height of otherworldly sword and sorcery super heroics. And while its been quite some time since the character has achieved anything close to that level of wonder, in recent years he’s enjoyed something of a renaissance. From his “death,” to his literal return to Earth under the guidance of J. Michael Straczynski, to his big screen debut, the petulant son of Asgard is kind of back in a big way.

Thor: God of Thunder is the newest incarnation of the title, with the unlikely writer Jason Aaron giving us a triptych of thunder gods, a tale of an alien butcher seeking to torture and destroy all deities told across three different periods of Thor’s life. We see young, arrogant Thor (pre-Mjolnir) and his first meeting with Gorr the God Butcher; modern-day Avenger Thor going full CSI trying to solve the mystery of who or what Gorr is; and far-future Thor, old and broken, sitting on the throne of an empty Asgard, the last surviving god, waiting for Gorr to finish him. It’s a brutal, bloody, and fascinating premise, though I do wish Gorr was slightly more imposing-looking rather than just being a Voldemort rip-off. Aaron creates a genuine mystery and sense of danger with real stakes for our hero, and the painterly art of Esad Ribic suits the romantic epic nature of the story. It’s not quite Simonson-level Mighty Thor (there’s thus far no Beta Ray Bill here), but Thor: God of Thunder is the best the character has been in a long time.

AJ: 10. ANGEL & FAITH (Dark Horse)

I know Whedon fandom is crazy, but I might just be the biggest Buffy fan on the planet. That’s a huge claim, and while I haven’t tattooed James Marsters’ face on my ass or anything (yet), it really is difficult to describe how much Joss Whedon’s world means to me. Without Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I wouldn’t be here today. You wouldn’t be reading these words and I would have even less of an idea of what I want to do with my life. So it pains me greatly to say that the canonical Season 8 and Season 9 comics, though they have certainly had their moments, are largely disposable and occasionally worse. But then there’s Angel & Faith, which has done the impossible, making a monthly comic book series feel like the weekly television shows we fell in love with all those years ago. Christos Gage knows these characters inside and out, both their voices and their motivations. It’s never a question of if the comic will tie back into the shows’ stated mythology, but when and how spine-tingling those connections will be. These are the characters I have loved for a good deal of my life in a story that’s being brilliantly told by Gage and brought to life with wonderful clarity by artist Rebekah Isaacs. If you’re skeptical about Buffyverse comics, you have every right to be, but this one should be a priority.

Gobbledygeek episode 99, “Mars, the Bringer of War,” is available for listening or download right here.

It had to happen sooner or later: the boys discuss John Carter. Do you, like Paul, feel that the film has been unfairly derided and that the media has latched onto its financial failure with too much glee? Or, like AJ, do you feel the film is terrible, filled with dead air, and populated with cardboard characters? Unless you’re looking for someone to be in the rational middle, you’ll find someone in your corner! Why does Paul like it and why does AJ hate it? The boys try to get to the center of the problem, and may or may not wind up psychoanalyzing one another in the process. Plus, Paul gives his thoughts on the first issue of Before Watchmen: Minutemen and AJ reveals his latest paranoid episode.

Next: unbelievably, we have reached 100 episodes. Tune in for a trip down memory lane with the best (and maybe some of the worst) of Gobbledygeek.

In our latest episode, Paul and I mentioned a number of comics recommendations for beginners in a variety of genres. However, we also mentioned that we had to pare down our lists significantly so that the topic would even approach being manageable. Here, as promised, are our other selections.

SUPERHEROES

After his legendary Uncanny X-Men run, John Byrne took over Marvel’s first family, the Fantastic Four. Cinematic storytelling, emotional character shake-ups, shocking betrayals. And he grew up Sue Storm, taking her from the Invisible Girl to the Invisible Woman.

Came across a pleasant little surprise on Netflix Instant last night: Comic Book Confidential, a 1988 documentary by Canadian filmmaker Ron Mann which takes a look at the history of comic books. It’s interesting from a historical perspective, since this was right when comics were really beginning to be embraced as an artform by the public, what with Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns having been released to critical and commercial acclaim. Obviously, there was still a long road ahead, and even now most people continue to think of comics largely as kids’ stuff with flashy superheroes and WHAMMO! sound effects. At around 85 minutes or so, it briskly takes you through the early funnies, the whole Fredric Wertham/censorship debacle, the first superheroes, and the Marvel boom before going on at length about the underground scene. We hear and see from a lot of comics legends: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Will Eisner, Bill Griffith, Robert Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Frank Miller, and Harvey Pekar, among others. Interestingly, neither in the brief look at then-current superhero books nor in the Frank Miller interview is Watchmen mentioned. Anyway, it’s a cool movie and a nice condensed history.